OncoRes Medical revolutionising breast cancer surgery

The company is improving patient outcomes with support from our Biomedical Translation Fund venture capital program and Cooperative Research Centres Projects program.

OncoRes Medical is a medical device company developing a new digital imaging technology to revolutionise breast cancer surgery. Two programs from our department supported this company to develop this technology.

Founded in 2016, OncoRes Medical created a handheld probe that surgeons can use to identify cancerous tissue remaining inside the patient. The device supercharges a surgeon’s sense of touch and provides them with more real time data. This enables surgeons to remove all cancerous tissues at the first instance, leading to better patient outcomes.

The Biomedical Translation Fund (BTF) is a venture capital program we deliver on behalf of the Department of Health and Aged Care. The BTF supported OncoRes Medical through Brandon Capital, one of its licensed private venture capital fund managers. Brandon Capital manages one of the BTF’s funds. From this fund they invested $4.1 million into OncoRes Medical, giving them an equity stake in the company. 

The Cooperative Research Centres Projects (CRC-P) program provided grants to OncoRes and its research organisation partners (University of Western Australia, South Metropolitan Health Service and Linear Clinical Research Ltd). It provided a 3-year CRC-P grant worth $3 million in December 2018 and another $3 million grant in 2022 to run until 2025.

Thanks to these programs, OncoRes Medical has been able to:

  • improve the design of the device
  • conduct clinical trials and further research
  • establish pilot scale manufacturing
  • attract more local investors. 

Funds from the programs will also enable the company to look for premises to manufacture the device in Australia and export it to overseas markets.

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